I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of biology and medicine. More particularly, it concerns methods for the prevention and/or treatment of diseases, such as obesity, with antioxidant inflammation modulators (AIMs).
II. Description of Related Art
Obesity has become a major health problem in the United States and other developed nations. In the United States, 65% of the adult population is considered overweight or obese, and more than 30% of adults meet the criteria for obesity. The World Health Organization has estimated that more than 1 billion adults worldwide are overweight, with 300 million of these considered clinically obese (Hotamisligil, 2006). The incidence of obesity in children is also growing rapidly in many countries. Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, neurodegenerative disease, respiratory diseases and other severe illnesses, and has been implicated as a risk factor for certain types of cancer including breast and colon cancer. Aside from its impacts on physical health, obesity has significant adverse effects on quality of life and psychological well-being. The incidence of obesity, already high, is likely to grow as a result of increasingly sedentary lifestyles in many countries. In addition, certain widely used psychiatric drugs, notably atypical antipsychotics, are associated with weight gain and increased risk of diabetes. Since these drugs must be used chronically to achieve adequate control of psychiatric symptoms, and treatment compliance in patients with mental disorders is frequently poor, these side effects present both a barrier to compliance and a significant additional health risk to patients.
Although it is well established that weight loss can be achieved through reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity, obesity has continued to be an intractable problem in Western countries, especially in the United States. The discovery of safe and effective drugs to induce weight loss has been a major research goal for decades. However, to date the drugs that have shown efficacy have been burdened with significant side effects or have shown only modest efficacy. For example, amphetamines have been used effectively as appetite suppressants but have a strong risk of dependence along with other side effects. The discovery of leptin, a peptide hormone that plays a major role in appetite regulation, was considered to be a potential breakthrough in the treatment of obesity, but in clinical trials, leptin was not effective. More recently, cannabinoid receptor antagonists were under development as anti-obesity drugs but showed unacceptable psychiatric side effects. Similarly, drugs designed to reduce fat absorption in the digestive tract have been associated with significant gastrointestinal side effects.
Accordingly, there is a significant need for new anti-obesity treatments. In particular, there is a need for anti-obesity treatments with limited side effects that may be safely used in combination with other drugs that are in common use in obese patients, such as antidiabetic drugs, antihypertensive drugs, cholesterol-reducing agents, and insulin. Thus, agents that can be used for the treatment of obesity would represent a significant advance.